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Bickleys go Bush'n'Beach
When we were in Broome we met Lisa and Tim who were travelling the country with 2 daughters and a very elaborate off road set up similar to the one we used to have. When we asked Tim how he was managing the set up and pack up he told us " yea, its frustrating but this is what we've got. I can't change it so I don't stress about it. I just have to embrace it otherwise I'm going to ruin my holiday and I love doing what we're doing."
I think Garry might have taken this on because today he came back from a little walk around Big Horse Creek Campground and asked me "do you know how to make a proper boiled fruit cake?"
I said "Yes, I think you cook it in muslin and let it sit for a while so that the suguar reacts with the other ingredients."
"Apparently it has marmalade and brandy in it to keep it moist" he told me.
"Oh, right" I said "the sugar probably reacts with the brandy."
"Yes" he told me "that lady over there makes the most moist boiled fruit cakes" he said nodding towards two elderly women chatting at a nearby campsite. "But that other lady, she doesn't put either of those ingredients in but apparently her fruit cake is also very moist."
"Oh, so what does she put in it?" I asked
"I don't know I wasn't listening." he told me "but, as annoying as they are, if you want to know something you ask the nomads, they know everything" he said.
At first Garry had found some of they grey nomads annoying and he was also having trouble being patient with the kids. Consequently I was getting frustrated with him and so on. We were all spending more time with each other than we ever had before.
On a few occassions we discussed strategies that he could use when he felt his frustrations overcoming him. One strategy was to wear an elastic band around his wrist and everytime he felt he was going to explode at one of the children or some unsuspecting elderly person he would ping that lacky band. The idea behind it being that the elastic band would take his mind off of his anger kind of like poking someone in the eye when they stub their toe.
This was the beginning of some new nick names for Dad like 'Lackie Band Dad' and 'Holiday Dad.' Anyway for a while Garry was pinging away at that lackie band but it appeared to be working for him. One day Heath announced "I love Holiday Dad, I hope he comes home with us"
Then one day I noticed the lackie band was gone.
"Where's the lackie?" I asked.
"We don't have one big enough for my wrist" he said.
So Lacky Band Dad left us in Timbre Creek and we haven't seen him since. Now we have loving, calm, reasonable Dad and that is roughly how long it takes to really, really relax. I have to say I especially love Holiday Dad.
Here in Timber Creek there is some huge Barramundie swimming around in that Victoria River and when someone catches one the locals say "Wow that is one Big Horse you got there mate."
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